FILA World Pankration championships

We recently learned that FILA will be adding Pankration to the World Wrestling Games in Turkey this September. The Games will have the World Championships in Sambo and, Grappling. FILA has not fully adopted Pankration so the international governing body in Greece has coordinated the Pankration side of the competition.

The US Team Trials in Sambo took place in early June 2007 and the Team Trials in Grappling (AKA Submission Wrestling) happened late June in Las Vegas. Our National Federation of Pankration is still getting info on the World Championships and has not had time to organize a World Team Trials. USA Wrestling has adopted Grappling and Sambo so those US teams will be funded. Pankration has not been adopted so no funds from USA Wrestling are available for the Pankration Athletes.

The International rules have changed and are somewhat different from the original rules we use in the US, plus they require all competitors to wear the Pankration uniform which consists of TMA style pants and a pull over TMA style top. Uniforms will be available in Turkey.

Nevertheless this is a huge opportunity for Pankration and the US needs to field a team that will succeed. We appointed Cliff Claypool the Head Coach of the Marine Corps Team to coordinate the team selection and travel.

These are the International Weight classes for the Competition and how they compare to the Amateur Pankration League Weights:

66 Kilos (145.2 lbs) equal to the US Fly Weigh & Fin Weight Divisions

71 Kilos (156.2 lbs) equal to US Feather weight Division

77 Kilos (169.4 lbs) equal to US Lightweight & Bantamweight Division

83 Kilos (182.6 lbs) equal to US Welterweight Division

90 Kilos (198 lbs) equal to US Middleweight Division

100 Kilos (220 lbs) equal to US Lt Heavyweight & Heavyweight Division

Over 100 Kilos (220lbs) equal to US Heavyweight Division

If you are a US Citizen with a passport, placed top 3 in any recent Sanctioned Pankration Tournaments and have the funds to travel to Turkey (air fare, lodging etc.) Please contact me ASAP at jfrank128@cox.net .

If you are interested in competeting in the US the next Tournament will be held Aug 11 in San Diego California.

Dude, USAW has "adopted" sambo, but there is still no funding for athletes after almost 2 years. I was at the nationals in Vegas this year. Sambo was stuck in the back corner of the event center like a bastard stepchild. While there was some good action there, most players were not sambo players (or judo players even). They were simply wrestlers who were done with the wrestling nationals and had nothing else to do but throw on a jacket and give it a shot. This in itself is not bad as it opens up the sport to new people, but the US sambo community has not been actively encouraged to participate with USAW and most sambo clubs (not wrestling clubs) do not really hold USAW sambo as very valid or committed to the sport. USAW does not even supply kurtki or shoes. The wrestling officials had very little knowledge of sambo rules and there were many very bad calls.

Take for example the recent marketing merger between the IFL and USAW. USAW's press release mentioned...guess what?...wrestling and it's role in MMA. Not sambo. One would think that if they really wanted to promote USAW sambo, a partnership with the IFL would be a great opportunity.

Sorry to be harsh, but USAW (and FILA) has done very little for sambo since re-adopting it except create more political problems int he national and world sambo communities. The FILA sambo worlds is hardly a word championships when no former soviet states or any of the top world teams participate. Last year was a very poor turn out. 8 countries to FIAS' 38 countries. Still, props to the US athletes who went to turkey, but if you did not face a Russian, it was no world championships.

FILA has been on a roll "adopting" every wrestling sport there is it seems. Don't hold your breath for pankration. USAW has not treated sambo with any kind of respect. Time will tell with no-gi grappling, beach wrestling, and I guess pankration.

USAW cares about one thing...wrestling.

Many of us in the US sambo community held some hopes for USAW, but it seems that we were wrong. I hope that the grappling and pankration folks have better luck.

FILA is allowing the World Pankration Athlima Commetee to oversee the Pankration part of the FILA World Championships and the WPAC indicated that individual countries do not have to go through their National Wrestlng Governing body as long as they have a organization sanctioned by the WPAC, which we in the US do have.

USA Wrestling is not involved with Pankration but they are very interested in Grappling. I helped referee the Grappling World Team Trails in Vegas and attended the California meeting with USA Wrestling.

The bottom line is membership, if Grappling competitors purchase USA Cards they will support them, if not they will lose interest. They see the huge interest in Grappling and think it could help the organization. Especially in the post High School age wrestlers who may turn to Grappling.

At this time they are not interested in Pankration. They feel it may make their Insurance/membership cards go way up because of the striking. Thats OK for us now. We would only need them if Pankration was added to the Olymipics as an additional sport of Wrestling. As long as we can talk to the WPAC we are good because FILA will only talk to USA Wrestling.

I was at the US Nationals this year and agree on the World Team Sambo Trials. There was very low participation and they were in the back area even for the finals. Someone came up to our group of kids who were done wrestling and tried to get them to compete in sambo. This was not the case for the World Team Grappling Trails, of course they took a back seat to wrestling but I think they showed us (Grappling) alot of respect. They finals were done on the same raised mats alongside Freestyle & greco. It was cool to hear the the lady who does all the Wrestling anouncements to call So and so "wins by Submission on mat #4) They Grappling competitors never experienced a venue or set up like that.

The US will be sending 2 teams to the World Championships. E-mail me ASAP if you are qualified and have the means to go. We need to submit the preliminary roster this week. My e-mail addrerss is jfrank128@cox.net

There are also openings for Female Athletes. If you are interested please contact Rob Serrano, he is coordinating the Women's team.
e-mail addrress - MAA@Topkick.com